he is a nice guy... i really like to work form him .. i don't know why but he might not be able to continue teaching in McMaster anymore. there is a comity who judges and rank Professors based on the reviews and comments given by student(mostly undergrads) and it seems that his was not good enough...
his grad student including me, made an on line petition to show our objection toward this decision... nothing is for certain now, and i hope he would stay in McMaster.
here is what i submitted:
filling this petition is the least i can do to show my support for Dr.Anand`s tenure application.
i think the word supervisor is not only about the courses, classes, thesis and grades, it`s about the relation between people, the way you treat others, it`s about moral issues.
before mentioning academic stuff i want add that as a new comer to Canada, having Dr.Anand as my supervisor was one of the most important reasons that made me not to feel so hard dealing with a new foreign environment while being away from family and facing lots of unexpected problems. he is so humble, knowledgeable and respectful man. in each student gathering in our department it makes me feel proud to be Dr.Anand`s student.
Unlike many professors, he doesn't put pressure on his students, but the interesting is that all his student love to do what they are assigned to, and that's because of the friendly relation between students and him. therefor, they do their best.
in the course i took with him(CAS 750), i feel that i really learned something that i can use in practice. he was always ready to answer questions, present new up-to-date references and he specify time to find a better way to help each student in specific at anytime. Another thing i do admire about him is that he is always on-line on Jabber(instant messaging) so he is always there if you need any assistance.
He brought me and few other students (Grad and Undergrad) this opportunity to work for IBM as CAS Fellow in IBM`s CAS (Center for Advance Studying).
it worths mentioning that most of the Universities in Ontario have lots of students and faculty members in IBM CAS ( U of T,U of Waterloo, University of Western Ontario, Queens and York) but not McMaster. he is the one who made this connection between McMaster and IBM, not only by preparing opportunities for students but also by presenting a very good job done by himself and other graduate students( theCoConut Project). i was there at the time our team,leading by Dr.Anand, presented our amazing results which showed a way better performance than the previous job done by IBM employees. I`m sure IBMers now consider McMaster`s Department of Computing and Software in higher position and if other professors from McMaster wants to send student to IBM they definitely have this meritorious preview in their minds.
when i compare the way he treats his student to other supervisor it makes me totally consent with what i had so far during last year, and if i were about to apply to McMaster once again and choose a supervisor, that would be definitely Dr.Anand again.
i believe before deciding about anything the comity must also talk with graduate students who was in contact with him mostly and ask their ideas.
Mehrdad Mozafari
